DMV Records Show Hicks Had Placards

Add running back Skip Hicks to the list of current and former UCLA football players who apparently had placards entitling them to use handicapped parking spaces.

A check of records at the California Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday revealed Hicks had three placards covering an 18-month period, including the 1997 season when he scored a school-record 26 touchdowns, rushed 258 times for 1,282 yards and was an All-American.

Hicks could not be reached for comment.

He has a history of knee problems but did not have them during his senior season in ’97. He joins former teammates Cade McNown and Larry Atkins among apparently able-bodied Bruins who had the special parking placards.

McNown’s possession of a placard was revealed Saturday in The Times. Phone calls to him and to his agent have not been returned since last Thursday.

But he was quoted in Tuesday’s Chicago Tribune, claiming unfair treatment in The Times’ revelation that he had a disabled placard from February to June 1997.

“Basically, I remember being injured in workouts during winter conditioning,” McNown said in an interview at the Bears’ training camp at Platteville, Wis.

“I was seen by the team physician and trainers, and after that, they said to go seek outside [medical] help and I applied for the placard. I didn’t use it for more than two weeks and then I hung it up. And I don’t think I ever parked in handicapped spaces. I can count on one hand the number of times I used it at all.

“Mentioning it at the same time [as the story about 14 Bruins who face charges in the matter] is not right. For lack of better words, I have been defamed.”

A university spokesman cited privacy laws when asked about an injury to McNown, but McNown was able to complete 18 of 21 passes in a scrimmage during spring football in April 1997.

Hicks, McNown and Atkins did not show up in an investigation by campus police in January that revealed 14 current and former players who had handicapped placards in apparent violation of California law.

“UCLA police turned over current violations discovered during a January traffic stop to the [Los Angeles] city attorney, and the university’s investigation is closed,” a UCLA spokesman said Tuesday.

Those 14 players are scheduled to be arraigned on July 28 on misdemeanor charges involving illegal possession of the placards and fraudulently obtaining them by listing afflictions they did not have--one player claimed he had Bell’s palsy--and/or by signing the name of a doctor who does not exist.

If convicted, they face penalties of up to a $1,000 fine and six months in jail, though there is an indication from the city attorney’s office that community service--rather than a fiscal penalty or incarceration--will be sought.

They also face probable punishment by the school.

According to DMV records, Hicks was issued his first handicapped placard on Dec. 3, 1996.

It expired May 1, 1997, and a second one covered the period from June 6 to Dec. 1, coinciding with Hicks’ senior season at UCLA. A final disabled placard permit spanned Jan. 20-June 1, 1998.

McNown’s handicapped placard covered a period of about the same as that of Atkins, a second-team All-American defensive back now with the Kansas City Chiefs: Feb. 26-June 27, 1997.

Technically, Hicks, Atkins and McNown could be charged if their placards were deemed to have been obtained by fraudulent means because of a quirk in the state’s statute of limitations. Normally, it is one year for misdemeanors, but under laws applied in this situation, that one year does not begin until the offense is discovered, unless that discovery is delayed because of negligence, according to Brian Williams, the city’s prosecuting attorney in this case. There is no plan to pursue charges for those three players.

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Skips Hicks in 1997

Skip Hicks’ game-by-game rushing statistics for his senior season in 1997. According to DMV records, Hicks was issued handicapped placards on three occasions, including one from June 6 to Dec. 1 1997:

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Opponent Att Yds TD Washington State 27 190 4 Tennessee 16 80 1 Texas 22 96 2 Arizona 28 118 4 Houston 14 31 2 Oregon 12 90 1 Oregon State 9 39 0 California 23 113 1 Stanford 26 121 3 Washington 25 147 3 USC 25 117 1 Texas A&M; 31 140 0 Total 258 1,282 22

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